St. Piran's: The Wedding!

by Alison Roberts

  And it was all so damn exciting!

  Josh’s life as a single father and full-time clinician had always been quite hectic enough, especially at this time of year with Christmas approaching. This year Christmas was barely registering yet, despite the decorations beginning to go up around the hospital.

  Everywhere he turned at the moment, people were telling him how brilliant he was and how proud they were to be associated with St Piran’s. They also wanted more of him. His secretary was complaining that it was becoming a full-time job trying to schedule all the requests for interviews and television appearances that were being lined up to follow the official opening of their emergency department extension. Not only that, the media had got wind of the hospital’s involvement in Megan’s project for Africa and somehow he was getting way too much of the credit. He seemed to be becoming the face of St Piran’s and people were liking what they saw.

  Over the last couple of days Josh had been hounded by a television company that was trying to persuade him to agree to base a reality TV show around the new paediatric emergency unit.

  ‘We’ll do a re-enactment of the story leading up to the emergency,’ the producer had enthused. ‘We’ll have all the drama of the medical crisis and then we’ll follow up. Interviews with the family and the staff. Real emotional stories, Doc, and we won’t shy away from the gritty stuff. We’d have no trouble selling this worldwide. You’d be a superstar.’

  Heady stuff, but Josh wasn’t interested. What he wanted was to have an emergency department that was renowned for its excellence. One that would be the first choice for any case that was within range of an ambulance or helicopter.

  The local air rescue service was making noises about needing another chopper and more staff to cope with the expected increase in workload the hype over the new facilities was generating. He needed to slot in a response to their request for an urgent meeting.

  On top of all that, there had been more than one fundraising event to try and attend. With space on a cargo plane already booked and the deadline rapidly approaching, it seemed like the whole of Penhally Bay and St Piran were at a fever pitch to get their projects completed and packed up.

  Josh had a new anxiety as he drove home each day, that the stress of all these unusual activities would be too much for his mother so soon after her heart attack, but, if anything, she seemed to be thriving on it all.

  ‘Dinner’s going to be a bit late,’ she apologised on this occasion. ‘Rita’s on her way over to help me with the last of the book bags. She was going to come after dinner but Colin’s come down with the horrible cold the whole family’s had and she’s promised to help out tonight.’

  ‘I can fix dinner, if that would help,’ Josh offered. He could see that Rita wasn’t going to be the only visitor to the house today. Megan came out of the kitchen in the wake of Brenna, who had heard her father come home and was rushing to greet him. Megan had a washcloth in her hands.

  ‘Warning,’ she called. ‘Major stickiness coming.’

  Josh couldn’t have cared less about the sticky hands that were already in his hair as he picked Brenna up for a cuddle. Finding Megan in his house was becoming a regular event due to Claire’s pleas for advice on co-ordinating all the community donations for the clinic. If his mother was aware of any change in his relationship with Megan, she certainly wasn’t showing any sign of disapproval. Not only was Megan being invited into the house more often, she was being invited to step further into the lives of his children. Helping to feed them. Reading them stories. And more.

  ‘Would you mind getting the children into their bath, love?’ Claire asked Megan now. ‘I’m getting worried that we won’t get this last crate finished and the truck’s coming tomorrow.’

  Josh surveyed the train wreck of his living area. Max was sitting amongst a pile of beautifully decorated exercise books, trying to tear open a box of crayons.

  ‘No, Max.’ Claire rushed to rescue the crayons.

  ‘Mine,’ Max declared.

  Josh saw Megan trying not to smile. She held out her hand. ‘Hey, Max. How ’bout you come and show me your favourite toy for the bath? Is it a duck?’

  ‘No.’ Max scrambled upright. ‘My boat.’

  Josh looked at Brenna. ‘Do you want Daddy to come and help with the bath too?’

  ‘Yes. Daddy and Meggy,’ Brenna shouted.

  Max sneezed loudly and his grandmother sighed. ‘I hope you’re not getting Colin’s cold,’ she told him. ‘Let me find you a tissue.’

  The doorbell rang as she finished speaking and Claire flapped a hand in consternation, at a loss to know what to attend to first. Megan was really smiling now.

  ‘Don’t worry. I can sort the tissue.’ She scooped Max into her arms before anyone could protest. Josh followed her up the stairs. He could hear his mother greeting her friend at the door, his daughter telling him something that made absolutely no sense, and even the strains of a Christmas carol coming from the radio that was on in the kitchen.

  It sounded like home. Family. And Megan was here in the midst of it all.

  A taste of the future?

  Megan looked up from turning on the taps as he entered the bathroom. She caught his gaze and her own face lit up.

  She understood perfectly.

  In no time at all the bath contained two very happy toddlers, who were splashing and crowing with delight as Megan soaped their plump little bodies and then tipped buckets of warm water over them to rinse off the suds. The splashing was getting vigorous enough to make the adults kneeling beside the tub distinctly damp. Stray curls of Megan’s hair were sticking to her face and Josh could feel damp strands of his own hair flopping into his eyes. He pushed them back.

  ‘I need a haircut,’ he muttered. ‘Goodness only knows how I’m going to fit in an appointment before the opening.’ His fingers rubbed his jaw as he dropped his hand. ‘And I’m going to have to find time to shave more often.’

  ‘You look great.’ Megan slanted him a look that ignited a slow burn somewhere deep inside. ‘When they see you on telly, women all over the country will be whimpering.’

  Josh smiled back. ‘Whimpering, huh?’ He only had to tilt his body slightly for his shoulder to come into contact with Megan’s body.

  The eye contact had caught and was holding. Sending some very clear messages.

  Oh...help... How long could they keep this up? This knowing that they had made a commitment to each other? That they wanted each other so much that it hurt? The anticipation that was building might be delicious but it was becoming unbearable.

  It was just as well Max sneezed again at that point.

  ‘Time to get you out, captain.’ Josh caught the plastic tugboat in Max’s hands just before it got smacked onto the water to create another satisfying splash. ‘Small boys who are coming down with colds need to be tucked up in bed in their PJs.’

  ‘Good thinking.’ Megan had a towel ready to wrap around the slippery little body.

  Brenna had her arms up, ready for her turn to come out of the bath. Josh wrapped her in a towel and started to dry her.

  ‘Did Mum tell you that Tasha rang?’

  ‘No.’ Megan’s teeth caught her bottom lip. ‘I’ve been so slack...I’ve barely been in touch with her since I got back here.’

  ‘You’ll get plenty of time to catch up. She’s coming over for the opening.’

  ‘Is she?’ Megan was guiding Max’s feet into the holes of his pyjama legs. ‘That’s fantastic news.’

  ‘It is. Alessandro can’t make it but he’s put their private jet at her disposal. Nice for some, huh?’ Josh grinned. ‘She said she was really coming because she wants to see you. The opening is just a bonus.’

  ‘That’s not true. She’s just teasing.’

  ‘I know. But she was really thrilled to know that you’re still here. And I think she might have guessed about...you know...’

  ‘Did you say something?’

  ‘Not exactly.’ Josh focused on doing up t
he buttons on Brenna’s pyjama jacket. ‘But she thought I was sounding unusually happy and demanded to know why. I said that things were looking up—that the changes at work were pretty exciting and that Mum had a new lease on life what with the African project. I...um...apparently wasn’t very convincing.’

  Megan smiled. ‘She’ll know soon enough. Everybody will.’

  ‘Can’t be soon enough for me.’

  They had both finished dressing the children in their nightclothes. It was time to move but the pause button seemed to have been pushed again as they shared a long, significant glance.

  ‘I’ll get them into bed if you want to head downstairs and see how Mum is getting on. Don’t want her overdoing things.’

  ‘She’s loving it.’ Megan raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m starting to wonder where she’s going to direct all her new-found energy once this project is finished.’

  ‘Don’t worry.’ Josh shook his head. ‘Wait till you see what Christmas is like around here. She’ll have more than enough to keep her busy and happy.’

  Brenna had been listening, wide-eyed, to her father. ‘Kiss miss,’ she said clearly.

  Josh caught Megan’s laughing gaze. ‘Oh, yeah...’ he murmured. ‘I’m planning to, don’t you worry.’

  * * *

  Two days later, the contributions from hospitals all over Cornwall and from the communities of Penhally Bay and St Piran were packed onto a cargo plane and started the long journey to Africa.

  Megan watched the plane take off.

  She was alone at the airport. Claire would have loved to have come but Max was really miserable with his cold and Tasha was arriving tomorrow and all sorts of preparations needed to be made. There had been no way Josh could take the time to come with her either. The opening ceremony for the emergency paediatric unit was only a few days away now.

  That was OK. Megan knew how important Josh’s career was to him and making this long drive simply to see a plane take off had been purely sentimental, really, but the project had been hugely significant to Megan.

  Life-changing, in fact.

  If Anna hadn’t come up with the idea in the first place and Megan hadn’t run with it, she probably wouldn’t have stayed long enough to not only deal with the past but to move past it into a future that was bright enough to blind her.

  Was that why she had tears in her eyes that she had to blink away more than once on the long drive home?

  Maybe it was partly due to this being the culmination of such astonishing generosity by so many people. It had all been a bit overwhelming, in fact. Especially when she’d seen Albert White early that morning. The CEO had handed her a large white envelope.

  ‘Open tickets,’ he’d told her. ‘I know the consignment will get held up in customs and so forth for a while, but we know how much you’d like to make sure it gets to its destination and the board of trustees wanted to show their appreciation for the work you’ve put in over the last few weeks. It’s a return airfare,’ he’d added, ‘because we’re hoping very much that you’ll want to come back. There’s a consultant position in Paediatrics that’s still available, you know.’

  The envelope was still in her handbag but Megan had no idea when, or even if, she’d be able to make the long trip back to Africa herself.

  Did she even want to now?

  And what about that job offer?

  Did she want to work full time again? Or work at all when she could be a full-time mother to the twins?

  That they were Rebecca’s children had become insignificant now that she’d opened her heart to Max and Brenna. She already loved them as much as a birth mother could have. You didn’t have to give birth to feel like a real mother. Asha and Dumi had taught Megan that.

  Another set of twins. A whole world away.

  Would she ever see them again?

  Why was it that making a choice had to involve some kind of loss? To be with Josh for the rest of her life was more than she could have dreamed of for her future but the joy was tinged with sadness as well.

  Life was a funny business.

  That sense of loss and sadness was still with Megan when she finally arrived home to a dark, chilly cottage. She flicked on some lights, contemplated lighting the fire but went to her kitchen to make a hot drink first. She dropped her handbag onto the table, ignoring the way it fell open and tried to spill its contents, and busied herself filling the kettle and switching it on.

  The knock at her door came just as the kettle came to the boil and Megan knew instantly who it would be.

  Any regret over losses made by her choices evaporated under the glow of joy as she went to answer the door.

  Josh was leaning against the doorframe, his grin lazy and utterly gorgeous.

  ‘I missed you today,’ he said softly. ‘Thought I’d pop in and say hello.’

  ‘Oh...that’s nice.’

  More than nice. Megan was being backed up against the wall of her hallway. Josh kicked the door shut behind him with his foot an instant before his lips covered hers. She reached up to touch his face but found her hands grasped and held on either side of her head, also against the wall.

  She was glad of the support because there was no mistaking where this kiss was going and she was melting inside at the onslaught to her senses. No way could her legs have held her up without some assistance.

  Josh finally raised his head. ‘I couldn’t wait any longer.’ His voice was hoarse with need. ‘I haven’t even been home yet.’

  ‘You’re with me.’ Megan smiled. ‘You are home.’

  She could see the effect of her words as Josh’s eyes glazed from the force of his desire. His hands were busy, undoing the buttons of her shirt. A second later and they were sliding inside her bra to cup her breasts. The shaft of sensation as his thumbs brushed her nipples was exquisitely painful and Megan couldn’t see straight any more either.

  ‘Not here,’ she managed to gasp. ‘Upstairs. Bed.’

  ‘Oh, yeah...’ Josh groaned. ‘Bed.’ He scooped Megan into his arms as easily as if she’d been one of the twins and headed for the stairs. He didn’t put her down until he was standing beside her bed and he didn’t put her down on her feet. He dropped her, flat on her back, onto the bed and leaned over her, loosening his tie.

  ‘Oh, Megan. You’ve got no idea how hard it’s been, waiting for this.’

  ‘I think I do.’ Megan watched Josh hauling off his clothes but she didn’t touch her own. Josh could do that, too. When he unbuckled his belt and let his trousers drop to the floor, her breath caught and Megan had the passing impression that it might be possible to die from desire that was this strong but even if it was possible, she didn’t give a damn.

  As the trousers hit the polished boards of her bedroom floor they made a noise that rapidly became recognisable as the ringtone of Josh’s phone.

  He made a very impatient sound. ‘I’ll turn it off.’

  Naked, except for his underwear, he shook the trousers to extract the phone from the pocket. He glanced at it.

  Megan could swear she felt the world stop spinning right then.

  ‘It’s Mum,’ Josh muttered. ‘She wouldn’t ring unless it was important.’

  Megan tried, and failed, to ward off a chill of premonition. ‘You’d better answer it.’

  He did. Megan knew that it was something serious as soon as he began speaking because Josh’s voice took on the crisp focus that she’d only ever heard in the emergency department. When something important needed sorting out. The questions he was asking only confirmed her fear.

  ‘When did it happen?

  ‘How long did it last?

  ‘Where are you now?

  ‘Take his clothes off. Sponge him down with some tepid water. I’m on my way.’

  Ending the call, Josh didn’t pause for a moment. He was doing up the button on his trousers before he even turned back to Megan.

  ‘Max has had a febrile convulsion,’ he told her. ‘Mum’s called the ambulance but she’s scared stiff. I ha
ve to go.’

  ‘Of course. Oh, poor Max...’

  She should be able to see this from a clinician’s point of view. To be involved and caring but not panic the way a parent would. But she couldn’t. The fear that gripped Megan was that of a mother, desperately afraid for her precious child.

  ‘I’ll come too.’ Megan pushed herself to a sitting position. She tried to start doing up her buttons but her hands were shaking too much.

  And Josh was shaking his head as he pulled on his shirt. ‘No need. It’s probably nothing. He’s had a cold. This is most likely just an ear infection or something.’

  But it could be something much worse. Meningitis? Encephalitis?

  ‘Where the hell is my other shoe?’ Josh was swinging his head, searching.

  ‘Over there,’ Megan told him. ‘By the window.’

  How could Josh be sounding like this? Like a doctor instead of a parent? This was weird...

  Unless he could sense how Megan was feeling? Was he trying to push her back? To remind her that Max wasn’t really her child?

  That Rebecca was—and always would be—the twins’ mother?

  She had intended to get off the bed and help Josh find what he needed but Megan couldn’t move now. She was frozen with something like horror. And there was no need for her to move anyway. Josh was moving fast. Totally focused on what he needed to do.

  What he’d needed when he’d arrived here was the last thing on either of their minds.

  It’ll be all right, Megan told herself. As long as he kisses me before he leaves.

  But Josh didn’t stop long enough to kiss her goodbye.

  He didn’t even look at her as he rushed out of the door.

  He said something but Megan would never know what those words had been because she’d been sucked back in time. To when she’d seen him again, an alarming number of days after they’d spent that passionate first night together. When he’d blanked her, as though that night had never happened.

  It felt exactly the same right now.

  He’d been about to make love to her and then, in the blink of an eye, it had been as though it had never been about to happen.

  As though she hadn’t even existed any more.